ᐅ Single-Family Solid Construction House with 142 m² Living Area – Questions About Floor Plans and Construction Costs
Created on: 26 Sep 2013 14:27
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baumann2013
Hello everyone,
After browsing the forum a bit and mostly reading along, I would like to share our building project and ask for your opinions on our floor plan idea and the roughly calculated costs so far. The house will have the following key features:
We have put together the following floor plan, which best matches our current ideas:
What do you think? Some users have mentioned that it is not ideal for the staircase to be right next to the front door. I can understand the argument about dirt being tracked in. However, this layout seems to us to be the best option in terms of minimizing space used by the entrance area and stairwell. Increasing the house’s external dimensions would also significantly increase costs.
Regarding the guest room, we prefer to have it on the ground floor. We are also thinking ahead to when we get older and would then have a potential bedroom on the ground floor. That is also why there is an additional shower in the guest bathroom on the ground floor.
We have not given much thought to the windows yet. The windows shown on the floor plan are therefore not final, and we would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.
Concerning the overall costs, we would like your opinion on how realistic the following breakdown is:
205,000 € house price (= 1,450 €/sqm (135 USD/sq ft) – offer already received)
30,000 € additional building costs
15,000 € specification buffer + extras
10,000 € materials for outdoor facilities, mostly done by ourselves
-------
260,000 € total costs excluding land costs
Do you see any potential to reduce these costs? It all seems a bit high to us overall. We would also be grateful for any further suggestions.
After browsing the forum a bit and mostly reading along, I would like to share our building project and ask for your opinions on our floor plan idea and the roughly calculated costs so far. The house will have the following key features:
- Solid construction detached single-family house with approximately 142 sqm (1,528 sq ft) of living space and a gable roof
- No bay windows/balconies etc.
- Building location: Saxony/Chemnitz
- A "normal single-family house" for 4 people plus a guest/office room
- Slightly sloping plot from north to south – about 700 sqm (7,535 sq ft) in size
We have put together the following floor plan, which best matches our current ideas:
What do you think? Some users have mentioned that it is not ideal for the staircase to be right next to the front door. I can understand the argument about dirt being tracked in. However, this layout seems to us to be the best option in terms of minimizing space used by the entrance area and stairwell. Increasing the house’s external dimensions would also significantly increase costs.
Regarding the guest room, we prefer to have it on the ground floor. We are also thinking ahead to when we get older and would then have a potential bedroom on the ground floor. That is also why there is an additional shower in the guest bathroom on the ground floor.
We have not given much thought to the windows yet. The windows shown on the floor plan are therefore not final, and we would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.
Concerning the overall costs, we would like your opinion on how realistic the following breakdown is:
205,000 € house price (= 1,450 €/sqm (135 USD/sq ft) – offer already received)
30,000 € additional building costs
15,000 € specification buffer + extras
10,000 € materials for outdoor facilities, mostly done by ourselves
-------
260,000 € total costs excluding land costs
Do you see any potential to reduce these costs? It all seems a bit high to us overall. We would also be grateful for any further suggestions.
Oh, there are serious mistakes here that, if corrected, suggest starting the floor plan over from scratch.
1. Exterior walls should be drawn with at least 33 cm (13 inches) thickness, interior walls with 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) and 17.5 cm (7 inches) for load-bearing walls. With this, you will have less living space and thus fewer furnishing options. You might consider increasing the overall house dimensions, but keep in mind the floor area ratio (how much buildable space you have).
2. Musketier already mentioned the staircase (by the way, that’s me who doesn’t like the staircase starting right at the door, but clearly sometimes it can’t be avoided).
3. Assign the dead corner of the guest toilet to the utility room.
4. Cross out “utility room” and replace it with “technical room.” I also thought: great, a nice utility room. But from houses already built in our new development, the utility room of about 6 sqm (64.5 sq ft) is full of all kinds of technical equipment, barely leaving room for a washing machine. For a family of four, this is not practical. So maybe use the upstairs storage room as the utility room and plan the kitchen spaciously enough to manage without a pantry.
5. The guest room, which should later serve as a bedroom, must be furnished with a 2-meter (79-inch) long bed and a wardrobe about 65 cm (26 inches) deep. So it should be at least 3.5 m (11.5 ft) wide and long enough to fit a (double) bed.
6. Bedroom: where should the spacious 3-meter (10 ft) wardrobe be placed? With your slanted wall, you will bump into the wardrobe when entering through the door. You should make this wall straight in the next design.
7. The orientation of the living and auxiliary rooms doesn’t match, resulting in poor living quality.
As Musketier has already mentioned, the elevations with the windows should be planned at the same time. Also, the walls on the upper floor should be placed above the load-bearing walls of the ground floor. Otherwise, you will spend a lot of money on something you won’t benefit from later: the structural stability.
1. Exterior walls should be drawn with at least 33 cm (13 inches) thickness, interior walls with 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) and 17.5 cm (7 inches) for load-bearing walls. With this, you will have less living space and thus fewer furnishing options. You might consider increasing the overall house dimensions, but keep in mind the floor area ratio (how much buildable space you have).
2. Musketier already mentioned the staircase (by the way, that’s me who doesn’t like the staircase starting right at the door, but clearly sometimes it can’t be avoided).
3. Assign the dead corner of the guest toilet to the utility room.
4. Cross out “utility room” and replace it with “technical room.” I also thought: great, a nice utility room. But from houses already built in our new development, the utility room of about 6 sqm (64.5 sq ft) is full of all kinds of technical equipment, barely leaving room for a washing machine. For a family of four, this is not practical. So maybe use the upstairs storage room as the utility room and plan the kitchen spaciously enough to manage without a pantry.
5. The guest room, which should later serve as a bedroom, must be furnished with a 2-meter (79-inch) long bed and a wardrobe about 65 cm (26 inches) deep. So it should be at least 3.5 m (11.5 ft) wide and long enough to fit a (double) bed.
6. Bedroom: where should the spacious 3-meter (10 ft) wardrobe be placed? With your slanted wall, you will bump into the wardrobe when entering through the door. You should make this wall straight in the next design.
7. The orientation of the living and auxiliary rooms doesn’t match, resulting in poor living quality.
As Musketier has already mentioned, the elevations with the windows should be planned at the same time. Also, the walls on the upper floor should be placed above the load-bearing walls of the ground floor. Otherwise, you will spend a lot of money on something you won’t benefit from later: the structural stability.
And here I am again, this time with a tip:
Make sure to include the kitchen in your plans right from the start, so you can move comfortably between the kitchen workstations. Are you considering an island kitchen? If so, you will need plenty of space. A well-designed kitchen layout is essential for preparing delicious meals, and it should also look good, especially if you have an open-plan design.
Make sure to include the kitchen in your plans right from the start, so you can move comfortably between the kitchen workstations. Are you considering an island kitchen? If so, you will need plenty of space. A well-designed kitchen layout is essential for preparing delicious meals, and it should also look good, especially if you have an open-plan design.
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backbone2326 Sep 2013 21:59baumann2013 schrieb:
We are still not completely satisfied with the bathroom. Do you have an alternative suggestion? Basically, finding the right floor plan is not easy. Changing something in one room immediately affects adjacent rooms, which in turn impacts the next room, and so on.No, sorry. I can’t offer you an alternative either. However, I could imagine that the room’s dimensions, door position, and sloped ceiling make it poorly suited for a bathroom. But that’s what architects are for.
baumann2013 schrieb:
Rather, this should first serve as the basis for the general room layout. And dividing the rooms when you also want to include a guest room is not that simple.There are countless floor plans online that include a guest room on the ground floor. These plans are already completed, have been built hundreds of times, and work well.
Just try googling house 140 m² (1507 sq ft) 4 bedrooms.
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